 APRIL 16 • 2020 | 13

ABMC

continued on page 14

vicemen to leave blank their 
religious affiliation on their 
dog tags to avoid retribution 
should they be captured by 
the enemy. Therefore, in the 
absence of a declared religion, 
a cross was the default grave 
marker.
It would take more than 70 
years before a Star of David 
marker would replace that 
cross and recognize Arthur 
as a proud Jew who made 
the ultimate sacrifice for his 
country. The righting of this 
wrong during the Feb. 12 cere-
mony was a culmination of an 
exhaustive collaborative effort. 

OPERATION BENJAMIN
It began with former Detroiter 
Vicki Katz, 49, and her hus-
band, Rich, 56, of Torrance, 
California. Vicki is the great-
niece of Arthur Waldman. 
Rich is a history buff and 
self-proclaimed “genealogy 
addict.
” He’
d been working on 
his wife’
s Ancestry.com profile 
in April 2019 and initially 
focused on Arthur because 
of “the chilling stories he 
had heard about his having 
to endure the Bataan Death 
March.
”
Eventually, it was a visit to 
the website Find a Grave that 
would reveal to the Katzes a 
photograph and the stunning 
revelation that Arthur’
s grave 
was incorrectly marked with a 

cross. Rich said it took him 
several passes at the pho-
tograph before it actually 
sunk in. “Oh, my God,
” he 
recalled saying at the time, 
“we must fix this.
” 
Rich was introduced to 
the grassroots 501(c)(3) 
organization Operation 
Benjamin (OB) by Rabbi 
Irv Elson, a Jewish military 
chaplain familiar with its 
work. That’
s where he began 
the vigorous effort to rewrite 
the final chapter in Arthur 
Waldman’
s life. 
OB’
s stated mission: “To 
locate Jewish personnel at 
American military cemeter-
ies all over the world who 
were buried under markers 
incorrectly representing their 
religion and heritage; correct 
these mistakes and provide 
comfort to the families of the 
fallen, without any cost to the 
families involved.
” 
The vision of this undertak-
ing was born out of an unfor-
gettable visit by Rabbi Jacob 
J. Schacter, a university pro-
fessor at Yeshiva University in 
New York, to the Normandy 
American Cemetery in France 
in May 2014, just days shy of 
the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
“I was deeply moved to walk 
among the close to 10,000 
graves of soldiers killed on and 
around D-Day, June 6, 1944,
” 
Rabbi Schacter wrote upon his 
return in the New York Jewish 
Week. It also raised a question. 
“
All that breaks the symmetry 
is the occasional Jewish star in 
a huge sea of crosses. I began 
to feel that there should be 
more Jewish stars represented.
”
Schacter enlisted the help 
of his friend Shalom Lamm, 
a New York real estate devel-
oper with a master’
s degree 

This is the orig-
inal Latin cross 
grave marker 
mistakenly 
placed at Pvt. 
Arthur Waldman’
s 
grave in the 
Manila American 
Cemetery in the 
Philippines.

Jews in the D

A Cosmic Coincidence
O

n a Feb. 26 post on his Facebook page, Steve Lamar of 
Operation Benjamin (OB) proudly summarized the organi-
zation’
s most recent successful trip to the Philippines for 
rededication ceremonies that included the grave site of Pvt. Arthur 
Waldman. Steve also wrote that he would be returning to Europe at 
the end of May for three more ceremonies.
What Steve didn’
t realize was that his very post would set him 
up to perform a mitzvah for a distant relative, his wife’
s father’
s 
second cousin. Call it six degrees of Jewish separation.
Former Michigan resident Melanie Reuler-Finn, 67, of Dallas, 
Texas, is that cousin. She saw Steve’
s post about OB and his 
planned return trip to Europe. “If you get to Henri-Chapelle 
Cemetery in Belgium, my uncle is buried there,” she replied. “Let 
me know and I will send you details.” Steve replied that he would 
make every effort.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Melanie had given up on her 
own plans to visit her uncle’
s grave over Memorial Day. 2nd Lt. 
Leon William Fried, the only sibling of Melanie’
s mother, Dorothy, 
was born in Escanaba and killed in action 75 years ago in 
Germany on March 4, 1945; he was 29. 
Unfortunately, travel restrictions would also end up squashing 
Steve’
s return visit to Europe. But he had a special surprise in 
store for Melanie just the same. On March 4, he directed her to the 
Facebook page for the American Battle Monuments Commission 
(ABMC), where he had arranged for them to post a tribute to 
Melanie’
s uncle on the 75th anniversary to the day he sacrificed 
his life for his platoon. 
“Help us remember Leon W. Fried today,” read the post that 
included a brief biography of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart 
recipient, along with a photograph of Leon’
s Star of David grave-
stone for the world to see.
“I was blown away by the number of comments honoring my 
uncle,” Melanie said. “This recognition for my uncle was even more 
than I could have accomplished by visiting the cemetery myself. 
Steve and the ABMC gave our family a wonderful gift.” 

Leon Fried

ABMC

COURTESY OF MELANIE REULER-FINN 

OPERATION BENJAMIN

